Rightfully regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Venus Williams is without a doubt a huge personality in the world of tennis. A 7-time grand slam singles winner, Venus Williams has been the world number 1 in both singles and doubles categories. She has tasted success in myriad tournaments throughout her career, but perhaps the one that stands out the most is Wimbledon.?

After being sidelined for a major part of the year due to injury, the 43-year-old returns to her favorite grand slam as a wild card entrant. A tennis fan on Twitter questioned the decision to include Venus Williams in the tournament and took a swipe at her low world rankings. Former American tennis great Andy Roddick came to her rescue.

Andy Roddick defends Venus Williams with befitting reply to troll

Venus Williams has battled a string of injuries this season and has remained out of action for almost the entirety of 2023. She finally made a comeback to the WTA tour with back-to-back appearances at the Libema Open and Birmingham Classic after being handed wild card entries at both events. Williams, currently ranked 697 in the world, is also slated to make her 24th appearance at the upcoming Wimbledon – where she was given a wild card entry yet again. A fan, seemingly unimpressed with her ‘endless’ main draw participations in recent tournaments, tweeted, “Yeah, but why should a tennis player that is ranked 697 in the world be given ENDLESS entries into main draws of tournaments?”.

Former US Open champion Andy Roddick was quick to respond to the troll, as he came up with a justification for Venus Williams’ Wimbledon inclusion. “Because she?s won that tournament 5 times, adds value to the tournament, and is Venus Williams”, he replied to the troll.

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Williams has won the Wimbledon singles and doubles titles a whopping 5 and 6 times respectively, making her one of the most successful players of the coveted tournament.

Can Williams roll back the years at Wimbledon?

Venus Williams was forced to withdraw from the Australian Open after sustaining a major hamstring injury at the ASB Classic in Auckland at the start of the season. Following this, she spent the next 5 months in rehab in a bid to get back in shape before the start of the grass-court season. Her return to action ended in defeat against Celine Naef in the first round of the Libema Open last week. She fared better at the ongoing Birmingham Classic, where she lost to Jelena Ostapenko in the second round, after securing a hard-fought round 1 victory against Camila Giorgi.

It is probably highly unlikely that the 5-time Wimbledon champion will make it to the later stages of her favorite tournament this year owing to her age and recent injury scares. But watching the great Venus Williams at the All England Club will indeed be a special and pleasant sight for millions of tennis fans across the world.

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